Warriors: Rising Tide
Dovewing emerged out of the Warrior's den, jaws parted in a yawn. Stretching the tiredness out of her limbs, Dovewing eyed the camp around her. She spotted the new clan deputy Squirrelflight (who became deputy after Firestar's death and the last battle with the Dark Forest) talking with Bramblestar, the new clan leader, by the Highrock. The medicine cat, Jayfeather, was scolding Dewpaw, a white and gray tabby apprentice that had accidentally knocked over Jayfeather's pile of herbs. Dustpelt, Sandstorm, and Graystripe, the three new elders, sat on murmured quietly to each other, Sandstorm sitting a little apart from them. Cinderheart, Lionblaze's new mate, sat sharing tongues with her sister Poppyfrost. A brown tabby and white-and-gray she-cat, Thornclaw and Hazeltail, shared a rabbit together. Ever since the last battle with the dark forest, ThunderClan seemed to be more at peace. Everything seemed to be going well, and doing just what they should be doing. It's great to see the clan finally relax after the war Dovewing thought happily, gazing out across her Clanmates. She yawned again, suddenly feeling the urge to go back to sleep, but ignored it, and padded out of the den. Dovewing's sister Ivypool was talking with the striped gray tabby Bumblestripe when the two cats noticed her. "Your finally up, Dovewing! I thought you would sleep until sunhigh." Ivypool purred, leaning over to give her brown tabby fur a few licks. "I guess I was just tired." Dovewing responded. Her gaze drifted to Bumblestripe, who stared at her with blue eyes. Dovewing felt warm embarrassment flood through her, and purred. Bumblestripe suddenly tore his gaze away, looking slightly embarrassed. "By the way, Dovewing, Squirrelflight wanted you to go on a patrol with Spiderleg, Berrynose, and Amberpaw. Do you mind?'' Dovewing's heart sunk a little since Bumblestripe wasn't in the patrol too. "Okay, where to?" "The ShadowClan border. Me, Bumblestripe, Foxleap, and Poppyfrost are going on a hunting patrol near sun high." Ivypool mewed, fixing her green eyes onto Dovewing's pale blue ones. Dovewing felt a pang of jealousy that her brown tabby sister got to go with Bumblestripe, and felt a little awkward. When Dovewing was an apprentice, she had been in a affair with the ShadowClan brown tabby Tigerheart. She still felt weird going around the tom that had once been her mate, and once nearly had kits with her. Dovewing nodded her head to Ivypool and Bumblestripe who immediately continued their conversation, and padded to the camp entrance. Spiderleg, Berrynose, and Amberpaw where waiting for her. Amberpaw, Berrynose's apprentice, was still hopping up and down, excited for the patrol. The black tom Spiderleg sat quietly, and Berrynose tried to get Amberpaw under control. "Are you ready?" Spiderleg meowed getting up. Dovewing nodded her head, and Spiderleg whisked off, leading the patrol. As the four cats paced away from camp, Amberpaw quieted down, still looking around the place eyes wide. Suddenly, a scent hit Dovewing's nostrils. Since Dovewing was one of the Three cats that had special powers, her power of heightened senses picked up the smell of rabbit. "I scented prey." Dovewing whispered to Berrynose, who was padding besides her. "Be quiet while I catch it please, it's nearby." "sure." replied Berrynose. "Catch up with the patrol when you done." He signaled to Amberpaw to be silent, which Amberpaw obliged to, and Dovewing padded quietly off into the direction of the rabbit. Finally, she found the white-haired creature sitting amongst the roots of a overgrown thorn bush. Dovewing noticed the wind was shifting direction towards the rabbit, so she leapt up and pinned the rabbit down, swiftly biting it's neck to kill it. She picked up the limp prey and padded back to the patrol, which was now near the ShadowClan border. "Amberpaw, Berrynose, you check the border over there, and me and Dovewing will go there." he flicked his tail to indicate the directions, and went to replenish the borders. "Did you hear that?" Dovewing had just begun to mark the territory when Amberpaw called out. "hear what?" Berrynose grunted, drawing away from the bush he marked. "That noise!" exclaimed Amberpaw. "It sounds like a whispering cat." Berrynose eyed Amberpaw, who pricked her ears eastward. Dovewing narrowed her eyes. What whispering cat? Pricking her ears, she soon made out the clear murmur of a cat. "It'll be okay....shh....other cats here....they'll help..." Dovewing could make out snatches of the words. "She's right." the pale gray she-cat agreed. "Amberpaw, good listening. There are two cats a bit east from her, left from that tree, along a long bush, and slightly across the ShadowClan border further up." Spiderleg padded over to them, licking between his legs clean. "Let's go check it out." Dovewing led the way this time, until they came to the source of the noise. DOvewing scented stale cat, and realized the strange cats had come back to the ThunderClan border. The patrol shuffled along the undergrowth a bit farther until Dovewing heard the meows again. "We're almost there, we'll be safe soon, Milksplash." the male-voice meowed. "How far, Tidewing? Oh, I wish Mousepool was here..." "Your sister walks with MoonClan now, Milksplash. I'm sure we'll meet cats who'll help us. Legends say of another Clan of cats--four actually--and one must at least help us! I'm sure we'll find of the legendary ThunderClan, we're in the forest, and that's where they live. Come on, we're almost there!" the tom, Tidewing, said. "How much longer? Oh Tidewing, I'm tired." "I know, but we're almost there.." the tom trailed off. Hissing, Spiderleg pulled through the last of the brambles and bushes, and leapt from behind a tree. The gray tabby tom Tidewing obviously didn't see them coming, and yelped as he was bowled over by Spiderleg. "Intruder!" Spiderleg spat. Berrynose growled, approaching from behind the bushes with a scowling Amberpaw. Dovewing spotted the black and white she-cat, Milksplash, standing wearily on four legs. Her stomach was slightly extended, and Dovewing guessed the she-cat was pregnant with Tidewing's kits. We can't possibly hurt them! They're just looking for help. Tidewing, who was slightly skinny and smaller than Spiderleg, used surprisingly powerful haunches to kick Spiderleg off. Spiderleg hissed, backing up slightly, and drew back his lips into a snarl. Meanwhile, Berrynose circles a whimpering Milksplash. "This one's pregnant." the creamy tom reported to Spiderleg, who was still circling Tidewing. Amberpaw hissed and flung herself at the gray tom, who noticed her quickly, and gave an amazing leap into the nearest tree. Dovewing gasped.